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Open Forum: Community Poll Results

Irvine Residents Want Council Action NOW to Control Growth and Traffic

April’s front-page Irvine Community News & Viewsstory was about Irvine’s explosive, uncontrolled growth — adding at least 60,000 more people, and 40,000 more cars in Irvine in just the next 6 to 8 years. This would push Irvine’s population to nearly 350,000, far beyond the 250,000 residents originally planned — and in utter disregard of the limits laid out in the City’s General Plan.

Accompanying last month’s story, we posed another Irvine Community Poll question on growth and development. The Irvine Community Poll (ICP) is owned by Irvine Community News & Views. We are dedicated to “taking the pulse of the Irvine community,” and publishing the results for all to see.

Well, the results of this particular poll are truly amazing. With hundreds of respondents, Irvine public opinion is nearly unanimous: The Mayor and City Council should act NOW to Slow Residential Growth! Take a look at the Poll question … then the results … and then read the remarkable notes and comments from your Irvine neighbors. To me, they reflect an anger, urgency, and even sadness directed at Irvine’s elected officials who, residents believe, don’t seem to care about what is happening to our community.

Under State and local law, California cities have the legal authority to slow the rate of residential growth and development in order to uphold their General Plans and promote public health and safety.

Should Irvine’s Mayor and City Council exercise their power to slow growth right now?

Comments, Notes and Letters

To deal with Irvine’s overpopulation problem, and all the ensuing problems, I would suggest Irvine place a moratorium on all new residential construction, including houses, apartments and condominiums.

—Paul Ricci

Traffic is awful in Irvine. Such a beautiful city with scenic parks, and all this traffic is making it miserable to live here. Please stop ruining it.

—Barbara Behrens

Keep Irvine from getting even more crowded. We didn’t have this traffic a while back, when it was so special to be living here for families and everyone else. Please stop building these housing communities that are overpopulating our City.

—Azin Meshkin

Sometimes, I wonder if the Mayor and City Councilmembers even live in Irvine. They are in denial about traffic, over-building, and population density. What world do they live in? I want to move there!

—Wendy Wifler

The developers do not care. Greed makes them blind to the harm they are causing the residents of Irvine. The accelerated rate of growth is more than we can bear. Developers should be put on a three-year freeze, and then allowed to continue building after three years, to see if the population could sustain limited growth at a very slow rate. During the three-year hiatus, developers should do work in improving the Great Park, and find work in other cities and counties.

—David and Rose Golden

Please stop the out-of-control building of more apartments and houses. The traffic is unbearable and the air quality is getting worse.

—Dot Walsh

Both my husband and I support slow growth. It is shocking to see the changes in Irvine. High-density developments, apartments, congestion! Where can one get relief from the developers? The greed continues.

—Susan Levine

How can Irvine keep on taxing the infrastructure, as though there is no limit. The apartment developments and residential approvals are out of control. Stop already!

—Norman Stout

Anyone who voted for the current pro-growth Councilmembers has no right to complain about overbuilding and traffic problems. I’d like to know how we, the citizens of Irvine, can remove elected officials. They obviously are tone deaf on these issues.

—Joe Mistretta

Traffic is horrible in Irvine. It’s time to stop building or come up with a solution. In addition, there is a shortage of elementary schools.

—Sheila Alimadadian

It’s time to return to the plan. Reasonable, planned growth, green spaces with facilities, ample schools, emergency services, and shopping areas near clusters of houses; planned streets with landscaping; and considerations of traffic and maintenance costs.

—T.K. McCranie

Irvine is a City known far and wide for its planned residential communities. The Mayor and the City Council must exercise their authority to uphold the General Plan. I don’t think the City’s political leaders would want to be known in the City’s history as those who sold out to developers and vested interests for political convenience.

—Rogelio Camero

The over-development in Irvine has resulted in a gridlock mess! Irvine isn’t looking at all like the Master Planned Community it was intentionally designed to be. That concept has been trampled with all the over-development. No longer is Irvine the Gold Standard and leader.

—Stephanie Proffitt

I am VERY tired of the growth, and upset that the Veterans Cemetery is yet to be built.

— Bobi Rush

Since developer FivePoint essentially bought our City government, they call the shots. So, I don’t see anything changing until the voters return the Democrats to power.

—Aris Papayoanou

Stop building more homes. They are built so close together — who would want to live in one of these homes? Not me. The streets are so congested. I moved to Irvine before it officially became a City, in 1971. Today, I would not move to Irvine, but would move elsewhere. Greed has destroyed the City of Irvine.

—Gary Nguyen

Irvine’s City Council should adhere to our well-designed General Plan instead of yielding to developers’ desires.

—Annette Bork

I am appalled at what has become of the quality of life in Irvine. Traffic is a nightmare every single day of the week. Our roads are clogged, our shopping centers are so full you cannot park to do your shopping, and yet the Mayor and City Council continue to reward developer FivePoint Communities with more and more land entitlement to make a profit by trading away the health and well-being of Irvine citizens. Enough! The citizens of Irvine didn’t agree to providing continual, never-ending profits for developers, nor did they agree to having their General Plan so accelerated as to have Irvine fully built out well ahead of what the General Plan provided. Stop ruining Irvine and start resolving the existing problems.

—Suzanne Seidel

Stop the over-development! Resolve the traffic problems! Irvine has become like “every other” city — development for profit.

—Susan Finnt

When we moved here about 27 years ago, we liked the idea of Irvine as a planned community. They have not kept that promise!

—Rosemary Torralba

The present City government is in the bag labeled “developers.” Wagner is so pro-developer, as is Shea. We should not have to pay their salaries; FivePoint Communities should.

—Richard McDonough

Do we now have a Fox in sheep’s clothing?

—Patricia Kennedy

We have too much growth and not enough infrastructure to support it. Please stop bringing so many new residents to our City!

—Lynne Judson

We know the Mayor and Shea are bought and paid for by the developers. I hope they will come around to doing what is best for the citizens.

—Michael LaRocco

Please HELP. We all moved here to get away from crowded cities, and many of us sacrificed our jobs to move here for a better life. However the beautiful Irvine that once was a golden City is turning into a zoo. To our elected officials and developers: Think about the people who live here and not about yourself.

—Julie Lee

Enough already! The continual development of our City is a travesty! The ONLY one benefitting is the developer, FivePoint Communities. While they get rich off our backs, we get to sit in our cars in traffic, polluting the air, wasting gas, and wasting time while our way of life erodes with every new building permit issued. When they’ve completely ruined our way of life, they’ll move on — and here we’ll sit for decades, reaping what THEY have sown for us. We HAVE TO STOP the overbuilding of our town.

—Jaci Woods

Letters and Comments on the Veterans Cemetery

People generally enter into politics trying to improve their community. Unfortunately, nowadays some people enter into politics to make money. The general welfare and improvement of the community they serve be damned. No, no, no, no to the Veterans Cemetery “land-swap” and more land development. They are choking the City to death.

—Daniel Yau

Letters to the editor are welcome. Please include your name and ZIP code. Letters for publication must be addressed to Editor, 4199 Campus Drive, Suite 550, Irvine, CA 92612 or email Editor@IrvineCommunityNews.org. Letters may be edited for publication. Unpublished letters will not be acknowledged or returned.